Nick Harvey gets £30 a month to watch TV sports on TV

Nick Harvey, the MP nominated as the spokesman for the House of Commons, had
to be reminded twice by parliamentary officials to submit receipts with his
expenses claims.

Nick HarveyPhoto: PA

By Gordon Rayner

8:45AM BST 13 May 2009

The Liberal Democrat, who helps oversee the administration of parliament, received letters from the fees office telling him to submit copies of his mortgage statements and bills for his cleaner.

Mr Harvey, the MP for North Devon, has claimed second homes allowances totalling £143,658 for his house in London, including interest payments on his £340,000 mortgage, which were £1,258 per month in June 2008.

The Liberal Democrat spokesman on defence also claims £30 per month for his subscription to Sky Sports and claimed £3,515 for food between 2004 and 2008.

In October 2007, Mr Harvey received a letter from a validation officer at the Department of Finance and Administration who had spotted that his claims for mortgage interest repayments had increased.

“I should be grateful if you would provide us with copies of documentation from your lender in support of this and any future changes to the interest rate,” the official wrote.

In April 2008, another official wrote to Mr Harvey reminding him of a change in the parliamentary rules that required members to submit receipts for all items over £25, after the threshold had been lowered from £250.

The fees office informed him that it would not be paying a £56 claim for a cleaner until he put in the receipt, which he later did.

His office expenses show that in April 2007 he claimed £129.25 for “two hanging baskets with watering” which was paid to Barnstaple in Bloom.

Mr Harvey said his Sky package was the same as the one he had at his main home and was an “additional cost” because he would otherwise be unable to watch Sky during the week when he was in London.

He said the hanging baskets were an office expense because “every other shop and office in the street participates in the hanging basket scheme”.

He added that his food claims worked out at £5.49 per sitting day, a “moderate and justifiable claim” and said: “Value for money has been obtained.”